Street-sweeping machine.



M. a. MITCHELL.

STREET SWEEPING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 28, 1910.

Patented Apr. 18, 1916.

- 3 SHEETS-SHEET i.

M. G. MITCHELL.

STREET SWEEPING MACHINE AEPL ICATION FILED NOV. 28, 1910.

1,179,548. Patented Apr. 18, 1916.

M. G. MITCHELL.

STREET SWEEPING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 28. 1910. 1,17 9,548.Patented Apr. 18,1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

% %zwses 94% MILLARD Gr. MITCHELL, OF KANSAS CITY, KANSAS.

STREET-SWEEPIN'G MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr-Z18, 1916.

Application filed November 28, 1910. Serial No. 594,544.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MILLARD G. MITCHELL, a'citizen of the United States,residing at Kansas City, in the county of Wyandotte and State of Kansas,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Street- SweepingMachines, of which the following is a specification,

This invention relates to street sweeping machines and my object is toproduce a machine of this character which will perform its functionefiiciently and is of comparatively simple and inexpensive construction.

A further object is to produce a machine of this characterembodyingmeans for reliably elevating the sweepings from the street anddepositing them within a cart or analogous device detach-ably connectedto the machine.

A still further object is to produce a machine by which the street canbe reliably swept close to the curb and which is of light weight andcompact construction so as to be conveniently drawn along by the sameanimal employed with the cart.

\Vith these and other objects in View the invention consists in certainnovel and peculiar features of construction and organization ashereinafter described and claimed; and in order that it may be fullyunderstood reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in whichFigure 1, is a side view of a street sweeping machine embodying myinvention, with the brush elevated to inoperative position. Fig. 2, is aview of the opposite sideof the machine with the brush depressedtooperative position. Fig. 3, is a plan view with the sweepingselevating mechanism omitted. Fig. 4, is an enlarged section on the lineIV-IV of Fig. 1. Fig. 5, is a vertical section showing a part of thesweeping roller, the adjacent or lower end of the elevating mechanism,and the elevating plate over which the sweepings must travel to reachthe elevator. Fig. 6, is a vertical section-on the line VIVI of Fig. 3.Fig. 7 is a sectional view showing a pair of sprocket wheels fortransmitting motion from one chain to another. Fig. 8, is a detailperspective view illustrating more clearly the arrangement andconnection of a lever forming part of the machine.

In the said drawings, 1 indicates a pairof side bars. connected at theirfront endsby a cross bar 2, constituting an axle; (TOUT- end engaging apin 27 naled on the ends of the axle are sleeves 3 and keyed orotherwise rigidly secured on the outer ends of said sleeves are carryingwheels 4. Journaled on said sleeves at the lnner sides of wheels 4 aresprocket wheels 5 formed with clutch members 6 at their inner sides andwith recesses 7 receiving flanges 8 rigid with sleeves 3, and adapted topreventv the sprocket wheels sliding inward on the sleeves.

9 are clutch members mounted to slide upon and rotate with the sleevesand equipped with the customary journaled rings 10 for engagement by theouter or forked ends of links 11 pivoted at their inner ends to apivoted draw bar 12, pivoted at 13. midway between said links to theaxle, the arrangement being such that the turning movement of the drawbar to the left side will incidentally eifect the disengagement of thesliding clutch members 9 from clutch member 6, and thus permit thesprocket wheels 5 to remain at rest without being afiected by therotation of the carrying wheels and sleeves. It will also be understoodthat immediately the draw bar is swung back to normal position, that is,parallel with the side bars, the slidable clutches are caused to rengageclutch member 6 and start the rotation of the sprocket wheels.

At opposite points, a short distance from the rear ends of side bars 1,is a pair of depending brackets 14, having their bearing ends widened at15, and receiving the oppositeends of a cross rod 16, and rigid on saidrod is a pair of forwardly projecting forked levers 17 pivotallyengaging pins 18 projecting inwardly from collars 19, fitting in grooves20 in the lower or large ends of the vertical rods 21 equipped at theirlower ends with casters 22 and fitting slidingly and rotatably in lugs23, carried by side bars v 1 in advance of brackets 14. Movable andpreferably formed integral with one of said levers 17, is a lever or arm24 connected pivotally to the rear end of a pull rod 25 having alongitudinal slot 26 at its front of a bell crank 28 mounted formovement in a horizontal plane on axle 2, the opposite end of said bellcrank-being held with a yielding pressurertowa-rdthe draw bar by adevice consisting of a sleeve 29, pivoted to the draw bar, a rod 30pivoted to the bell crank and ,sl d g y engaging thesl eve 9 and proandhence independently of movement by the draw bar, Imount a hand lever 33on apart 33 rigid with the frame constituted by the side bars, the axle,and the cross rod 16, and connect said lever by alink 34 to the pullrod, suitable pawl and ratchet mechanism, not shown, being employed tosecure the lever 33 at the desired point of adjustment, it beingunderstood that when said lever is thrown forward it has the same effecton the rear end of the frame as the movement of the draw bar to theleft, which movement as will be readily understood imparts a forwardpull on the pull rod 25 and causes the arms 17 to fulcrum on theinwardly projecting pins of collars 1 9, and thus raise the rear end ofthe frame, reverse movement of the pull rod permitting the rear 'end ofthe frame to swing downward from the position shown in Fig. l, to theposition shown. in Fig. 2, the former being the inoperative and thelatter the operative position of the machine.

35 is a pair of swing bars pivoted at 36 to and projecting rearwardlybeyond the side bars 1 and journaled in the rear ends of bars 35 is ashaft 37 upon which is secured a rotary brush 8 and a gear wheel 39meshing with an idler gear 40, carried by the adj acent bar 35, and castintegral with a sprocket wheel 41 connected bya chain 42 to sprocketwheel 5 at the same side of the machine, the gear 40 being preferablysmaller than gear 39 so that the speed of the rotary brush Shall notbetoo great.

Secured pivotally to the outer sides of the side rails, on one of thebolts 43 employed to secure brackets 14 in place, are threaded sleeves44, spacing washers: 45 being employed'to space said sleeves out of thevertical plane of the bars 35to receive the lower threaded ends of thevertical bolts 46 journaled in sleeves 47 projecting outward from bars35. When the last-named bars and hence'the brush occupy the mostdepressed positions, sleeves 47 rest upon sleeves 44 and areheld-pressed yieldingly downward by the springs 48 encircling rods 46,and bearing at their lower ends on the sleeves 47 and at their upperends against the hand wheels 49 at the upper ends "of the rods. In thisconnection it will be seen that Fig. 4, illustrates the swing bars 35 attheir downward limit of swinging movement because the sleeves 47 are inengagement with the upper ends of thesleeves 44, and it will also benoticed that by turning the hand wheels 49 back- 1. Ward so as to impartunscrewing movementli cross rod 66 connects the side bars 54 above boresor passages of the sleeves.

It will be understood that the springs 48 hold the rotary brush-carryingarms yieldingly depressed butleave the brush free to easily ride overirregularities in the surface of the pavement being swept. If it isdesired to'hold the brush with more or less pressure upon the pavement,the hand wheels are turned in one direction or the other to impose moreor less pressure upon the sleeves 47carried by the swing bars 35.

As a convenient and economical means for effectively operating themachine, an ordinary wheeled cart 50 is provided with a bi furcatedbracket 51 at its rear end receiving the front end of draw bar 12,ahorizontal pivotal pin 52 securing the draw-bar to the bracket so as toallow of a slight up and down movement of the cart or the sweeperindependently of each other and yet compel an inclined elevatorconstructed as follows: i

54 are side bars resting at their lower ends on'cross rod 16. 55 and 56are parallel shafts extending through the side bars 54 and equippedrespectively with rollers 57 and 58 connected by an endless carrier 59,said carrier extending almost the full length of bars 54, and to impartmotion tosaid carrier one end of the shaft 56 is equipped with asprocket wheel 60 connected by a sprocket chain 61 to a sprocket wheel62, j ournaled on g a stub shaft 63 secured to the adjacent side bar 54,and said sprocket wheel 62 is case integral with a sprocket wheel 64connected by a sprocket chain 65 with the sprocket 5 not geared to therotary brush so that as the machine is drawn forward motion is impartedto chains 65 and 61 in the direction indicated by the arrows Fig. 2. theendless carrier 59 obviously traveling inthe same direction, asindicated by the arrow, Fig. 5.

At the lower end of the carrier frame a the lower end of the carrier andhinged upon said rod is a curved plate or pan 67, which correspondsapproximately in curvature to and is arranged to dragupon the pavementunder the forward portion'of the brush so that as the latter is turnedin the direction indicated by the arrow, Fig. 5, it forces the scrapingsup over said plate or pan and onto the carrier which conveys saidscrapings upward and eventually deposits them through the downwardly andforwardly inclined spout 68 into the cart 50.

For, cleaning the pavement close to the curb, outward of the plane ofthe adjacent wheels, I provide the following construction: 69 is ahorizontal rod extending outwardly and forwardly beyond the right handside of the machine from a point below the rear end of the elevator, andsaid rod extends slidingly through bearings 70 and 71 and 72, bearing'TO being rigid with a cross bar 73 connecting side bars 1. Bearing 71is carried by one of the side bars 1 and bearing 72 is connected bybraces 74: to the elevator frame and the adjacent side bar 1 or it isotherwise suitably braced, the bearing 72 and bracing being to guardagainst any backward spring movement of the rod 69. 7 5 are hangersrigid with and depending from rod 69, and secured rigidly to saidhangers is a blade 76 disposed at the same angle as rod 69 and adaptedto scrape the ground in the forward progress of the machine and causethe substance scraped to moved inwardly to a point below thelongitudinal center of the machine where it can be swept up by therotary brush 38. At its outer extremity the blade is equipped with ahorizontallyarranged anti-friction roller 77 for engagement with thecurb, see Fig. 3, if the machine is driven sufficiently close there to,and to avoid injury to the rod and scraper blade in the event offorcible impact of the roller with the curb,-the rod is provided with acollar 78, sustaining the outward pressure of a stiff coil spring 79,mounted on the rod and bearing at its opposite end against the bearing70. This spring will yield under an overcoming pressure applied endwiseon the rod and scraper through the roller and when said pressure isrelaxed the spring will restore the rod and scraper to their originalpositions. When making a turn or in driving to and from the street wherethe machine is to perform its function, the blade should be out ofcontact with the ground and to accomplish this, the rod 69 which isrigid with the blade is provided with an arm or lever 80, and attachedthereto and at its rear end is a cable 81, provided with a loop 82 and aloop 83, either of which is adapted to engage a hook 8 1 on the adjacentstandard 53. When the blade is in operativeposition as shown in Fig. 2,loop engages the hook. When the blade is in inoperative position thatis, is raised, the loop 82 is in engagement with the hook, aforward'pull on the cable swinging the blade upwardly and rearwardly aswill be readily understood.

Assuming that the parts are as shown in Fig. 2, it will be seen that asthe machine is drawn along a roadway,

that the bearings during the turning movement.

the rotary brush 38 will gather the sweepings and force them over theplate or pan 67 ontoconveyer 59 and that they will be eventuallydelivered into the cart 50. If it is desired to cross a car trackwithout sweeping the same, the person in control can operate the handlever and raise the rear end of the frame and the brush out of contactwith the ground, it being noticed that this operation of said leverimparts a forward pull on rod 25 and causes arm 17 to fulcrum on pins19, so carried by the rear end of the frame shall slide upward on thestems of the casters which sustain the rear end of the frame, it beingalso noticed that because of the pin and slot connection between thepull rod "25 and bell crank 28, the latter is not affected by themovement of said pull rod.

When the machine turns to the left and therefore causes correspondingpivotal movement of the draw bar 12, the pull rod is drawn forward toeffect the raising of the brush from the ground in a manner hereinbeforeexplained, this action being due to the fact that the bell crank 28engages the pull rod and is thus linked to the draw bar. At the sametime the links 11 connecting the draw bar with the clutch members 9withdraw the latter from engagement with the companion clutch members 6,so that the rotation of the carrying wheels 4 during the turningmovement of the machine will not impart rotation to the rotary brush andthe conveyer as said parts perform no function I It will also beunderstood that when the machine is being turned, the operator by meansof the cable 81 will raise from the ground and secure the same in suchposition by causing the engagement of loop 82 with the hook 8a.

From the above description it will be apparent that I have produced astreet sweeping machine embodying the features of advantage enumeratedas desirable in the statement of the object of the invention and I wishit to be understood that I do not desire to be restricted to the exactdetails of construction shown and described as obvious modificationswill suggest themselves to one skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. A street cleaning vehicle, comprising a wheeled support, a framevertically tiltable thereon, a frame pivotally carried by and at therear end of the tiltable frame, a device for engaging and cleaning thestreet, carried at the rear end of the pivotally carried frame, alongitudinally extending draw-bar mounted on the tiltable frame, andconnections between said draw-bar and the pivotally carried framewhereby pivotal movement of the draw-bar to the right or left thescraping blade 76 from its normal position shall operate the pivotallycarried frame to raise the street engaging device to inoperativeposition.

2. A street cleaning vehicle, comprising a i wheeled support, avertically tiltable frame mounted thereon, a frame-pivotally carried byand at the rear end of the tiltable frame, a rotary brush journaled onsaid pivotally carried frame, means for driving said brush from one ofthe vehicle wheels, a longitudinally extending draw bar mounted on thetiltable frame, connections between said draw-bar and the pivotallycarried frame whereby pivotal movement of the draw-bar to the right orleft of its normal position shall operate the pivotally carried frame toraise the brush to inoperative position, and means actuated by the drawbar in its pivotal movement to the right or left from its normalposition, for throwing the said driving means to inoperative posltion.

3., A street cleaningvehicle, comprising a wheeled support, a verticallytiltable frame mounted thereon, a frame pivotally carried by and attherear end of the tiltable frame, a device for engaging and cleaningthe street, carried at the rear end of the pivotally carried frame, alongitudinally extend- 7 ing draw-bar mounted on the tiltable frame,connections between said draw-bar and'the pivotally carried framewhereby pivotal movement of the draw-bar to the right or left from itsnormal position shall operate the pivotally carried frameto raise thesaid device to inoperative position, and means whereby the pivotallycarried frame may be operated independently of said draw-bar andconnections.

, 4. A- street cleaning vehicle, comprising 40 a wheeled support, arotary brush carried by said support, an endless conveyer to receive andcarry the sweepings from said brush, means operated from the vehiclewheels for driving the brush and conveyer, a longitudinally extendingdraw-bar mounted on the wheeled support, connections between thedraw-bear and the rotary brush whereby pivotal movement of the former tothe right or left from its normal position shall raise the brush toinoperative position, and means actuated by the draw bar in its pivotalmovement to the right or left from its normal position, for throwing thesaid driving means to inoperative position. 5. A street cleaningvehicle, comprising a wheeled support, a rotary brush carried by-saidsupport, an endless conveyer to receive and carry the sweepings fromsaid brush, means operated from the vehicle wheels for driving thebrushand conveyer,

a longitudinally extending draw-bar mounted. on the wheeled support,connections between the draw-bar and the rotary brush whereby pivotalmovement of the former 5 to the right or left from its normal positionshall raise the brush to inoperative position, means actuated by thedraw bar in 'its pivotal movement to the right or left from its normalposition, for throwing the said driving means to inoperative position,and means for exerting a yielding force to return the draw-bar to normalposition and thereby restore the drivingbonnections to operativecondition, I i

6. A street sweeping machine, comprising a pair of carrying wheels, abrush-carrying frame pivotedat its front end onsaid wheels so that itsrear end shall be capable of swinging in a vertical plane, verticalbearings carried near the rear end of the frame,

casters provided with vertical stems susceptible of swivel and slidingmovements in said bearings, a cross rod bearing a journaled relation tothe frame, arms projecting from the cross rod and 'fulcrumed on thecaster stems, and means for-rocking said cross rod to raise or lower therear end of said frame.

7. A street sweepingmachine, comprising a pair of carrying Wheels,'a'brush-carrying frame pivoted at its front end on said wheels sothatits rear end shall be capable of swinging in a vvertical plane,vertical bearings carried near the rear end of the frame, castersprovided with vertical stems susceptible of swivel and sliding movementin said bearings, a cross rodbearing a jour naled relation to the frame,arms projecting from the cross rod and fulcrumed on the caster stems, acart, a draw-bar arranged for substantially horizontal movement, andconnected 'to the cart so as to turn to the left when the latter turnsin the same direction,

and connections between said pivoted drawbar and said cross rod wherebythe latter is operated and the rear end of the frame elevated as thecart turns to the. left. 1

8. A street sweeping machine, comprising a pair or carrying wheels, aframe pivoted at its front end on said wheels so that its rear end shallbe capable of swinging in a vertical plane, vertical bearings carriednear the rear end of the frame, casters provided with vertical stemssusceptible of swivel and sliding movements in said'bearings, a crossrod bearing a journaled relation to the frame, arms projecting from thecross rod and fulcrumed on the caster stems, an

upwardly and forwardly inclined elevator carried by the frame providedat its front end with a spout to discharge into a cart,a rotary brushbehind the frame and elevator and adapted to sweep the street'and forcethe sweepings upon the elevator, swing arms capable of movement in avertical plane forming a journal for said'brush and'pivotally supportedat their front ends from said frame, means carried by said frame forlimiting downward movement of'said arms, and for, raising the same whenthe frame is raised, and means for operating said cross rod and raisingthe rear end of said frame.

9. A street sweeping machine, comprising a pair of carrying wheels, aframe pivoted at its front end on said wheels so that its rear end shallbe capable of swinging in a vertical plane, vertical bearings carriednear the rear end of the frame, casters provided with vertical stemssusceptible of swivel and sliding movements in said bearings, a crossrod bearing a journaled relation to the frame, arms projecting from thecross rod and fulcrumed on the casters, an upwardly and forwardlyinclined elevator carried by the frame and provided at its front endwith a spout to discharge into a cart, a rotary brush behind the frameand elevator and adapted to sweep the street and force the sweepingsupon the elevator, swing arms capable of movement in a vertical planeforming a journal for said brush and pivotally supported at their frontends from said frame, means carried by said frame for limiting downwardmovement of said arms, and for raising the same when the frame israised, means for transmitting power from the carrying wheels to therotary brush and the elevator, a laterally movable draw-bar suitablypivoted to the said frame, a cart, detachably connected to the front endof the draw-bar and adapted in turning to the left to turn the front endof the draw-bar in the same direction, and connections between thedraw-bar and the cross rod whereby the latter is operated as the cartturns to the left to copies of this patent may be raise the rear end ofthe frame and said brush.

10. A street sweeping machine, comprising a pair of carrying wheels, aframe pivoted at its front end on said wheels so that its rear end shallbe capable of swinging in a vertical plane, casters supporting the rearend of the frame, wheels bearing a journaled relation to the carryingwheels and provided with clutch members to compel the lastnamed wheelsto rotate with the carrying wheels, a draw-bar pivoted to said framebetween the slidable clutch members to move the latter out of engagementwith the other clutch members when the front end of the draw bar movesto the left and into engagement when such movement of the draw-bar isreversed, swing arms pivoted at their front ends to said frame, a rotarybrush journaled in said arms rearward of said frame, means carried bysaid frame to limit downward movement of said arms and brushindependently of the frame, an inclined elevator carried by said frame,embodying an endless carrier, and gearing con necting the endlesscarrier and the rotary brush with the said wheels provided with clutchmembers.

In testimony whereof I ailiX my signature in-the presence of twowitnesses.

MILLARD G. MITCHELL.

Witnesses:

HELEN C. RODGERS, G. Y. THORPE.

Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

